For motor vehicles, certain methods and devices are conventional with which the speed of the vehicle may be automatically regulated to conform to a desired speed selected by the driver. In adaptive cruise control systems (ACC; adaptive cruise control), moreover, it is possible to automatically adapt the speed to the speed of a vehicle driving in front, which is located, for example, using a distance sensor, e.g., a radar sensor, (SAE Paper no. 96 10 10 “Adaptive Cruise Control, System Aspects and Development Trends”, Winner et al., 1996). The control is accomplished by intervention in the drive system and if necessary also by intervention in the braking system of the vehicle. However, in vehicles having manually shifted transmissions, it is not possible for the control function, insofar as it affects the drive system, to be continued when the driver operates the clutch, because then it is no longer possible for the actual speed of the vehicle, which is used as a feedback signal, to be influenced by the control commands of the controller. Therefore, in vehicles having a manually shifted transmission, it has been conventional to switch off the control function or ACC function as soon as the driver operates the clutch. In order to reactivate the control function after a gear change, the driver must enter an appropriate command by hand.
Although it may be desirable to automatically resume the control function after a gear change, the engine speed in this case is generally not adapted to the actual vehicle speed and to the newly selected gear step, so that upon reengagement of the clutch, an irritating and uncomfortable jolt occurs.